NFL: Dungy in playoffs 10th year in a row

Tony Dungy shakes his head in disbelief.

Don Shula, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick - all multiple Super Bowl winners, four of them Hall of Famers. The humble Colts coach still thinks he doesn't belong in the same sentence, although the history books now tell a different tale.

Thursday night's victory at Jacksonville not only clinched a playoff spot for the Colts, it also made Dungy the first coach since the 1970 merger to reach the playoffs 10 straight seasons.

"It is a little bit thrilling to me when you see the names in that area, Landry and Coach Noll and Walsh," he said yesterday. "It's hard to do, so I'm really fortunate to be around two groups of guys who have allowed me to do it."

For Dungy, the journey has been more challenging than those before him.

Unlike Shula, Landry, Walsh or Belichick, Dungy had to make his run with different franchises, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. Unlike Shula, Landry, Noll and Walsh, Dungy also had to succeed in the era of free agency, which seemed destined to break up potential dynasties after only a few years.

He won with different styles, too. In Tampa, it was the traditional grind-it-out offense and suffocating defense; in Indianapolis, it's been the more modern high-scoring offense and an opportunistic defense.

Since Dungy arrived in 2002, the Colts have won five AFC South titles and became the second NFL team to win at least 11 games in six straight seasons, and Indy is the only team since the 2002 realignment to make the playoffs every year.

The Colts also won the 2006 Super Bowl.

While this has not been a typical Colts season, Indy (11-4) did what it had to.

It strung together eight straight wins after opening 3-4, five of those by seven or fewer points.

Pete Case dies.

Ronald Lee "Pete" Case, a guard who played for the Eagles and New York Giants from 1962 to '70, has died. He was 67.

The Giants said that Case died in Georgia on Thursday.

A first-round draft choice of the Eagles in 1962, Case was traded to the Giants after three seasons. He played 79 games in his six seasons in New York.

Vince Young suit.

Vince Young is suing former major- league infielder Enos Cabell and two other men for applying for a trademark to use his initials and "Invinceable" nickname to sell products without his permission.

The federal suit filed Dec. 12 in a U.S. District Court in Houston alleges the three men applied for the rights in 2006, the day after Young led the University of Texas to a national championship in the Rose Bowl and won the most valuable player award.

The suit claims the trio has spent large sums marketing and branding the VY image and Invinceable nickname, damaging endorsement deals for the Tennessee Titans quarterback, including one with Reebok. Young is asking the court to give him the rights to use the initials and nickname.

Williams shooting.

The man accused of killing Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams will enter a plea in February after yesterday's hearing in Denver was postponed until Feb. 20.

Willie D. Clark faces 39 counts, including first-degree murder. The hearing was delayed because his attorneys wanted more time to review evidence.

Williams was shot after leaving a Denver nightclub on New Year's Day 2007. The indictment says Williams and Clark were at the club with separate groups that exchanged taunts before Williams and his friends left in a rented limousine.

A witness told investigators that Clark, 25, was driving an SUV when he caught up with Williams' limo and fired into it. He also was indicted last month in an unrelated shooting death.